Washington vows to protect NATO allies in Eastern Europe from Russian attack
Jake Sullivan. Photo: Tom Brenner / Reuters
Washington has pledged to protect its NATO allies in Eastern Europe, and in the event of a Russian attack, to apply Article 5 of the alliance's charter. This was stated by US President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan during a conversation with the head of the Polish National Security Bureau Pavel Solokh.
As reported in the White House, the parties exchanged views on building up Russia's military power near the border with Ukraine, and also reaffirmed the need for unity among the allies in the “containment” efforts.
“Sullivan reaffirmed that the United States supports the application of Article 5 of the charter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and emphasized the United States' willingness to assist allies on the eastern flank in defending their countries,” the statement said.
Earlier it was reported that against the background of growing tensions around the situation in Ukraine, NATO increased the combat readiness of the rapid reaction forces. According to Die Welt, the North Atlantic Alliance has reduced the readiness period for the deployment of the Joint High-Readiness Task Force (VJTF) in the crisis zone from seven to five days. The specified group consists of 6.4 thousand military personnel, it is headed by Turkey. The level of readiness was also increased among the special operations forces and logistics services.
